CNY
by Lycii TyS
Summary: Complete with a hundred dollar note, one firecracker and some burnt ovens, what could go wrong? Well? That would be plenty, after all, Nico wasn't the luckiest guy on the planet.


_Re-write cause' I was bored. 9/10_

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**The streets were adorned with festive lights, glowing and twisting in the soft breeze of the night**.

Red paper lanterns hung from the street lamps, spreading a soft warm glow, not much unlike human lives.

To burn so bright and be just as easy to snuff out.

The roads were twining in confusing loops- enough to do Daedalus proud- that Nico gave up trying to remember his way back.

Red confetti was scattered all around him, fluttering and dancing with the shadows that had gathered to the edge of their realm.

Nico saw ghosts of the past striding down the streets, men in huge wide-brimmed red hats and women with enough hair piled up on their head to look like it hurt.

Nico's stomach didn't help matters, the scent of freshly fried food sizzled in his nostrils.

Who would have known even the smell of a burnt oven would actually smell appealing to him.

He lifted his gaze and, for the first time, he properly saw what was going on around him.

Wide and dark words were being inked on red parchment as the mortals strung the paper onto a long brittle looking bamboo pole and hoisted it up into the willow tree towering over all of them.

His stomach lurched with a horrible sense of realization. He was back in China, again.

Curse Hephaestus, he had never been good with numbers in the first place, much less calculation.

The willow tree shook, it's branched ruffling in the wind. The civilians cheered.

Nico rolled his eyes at them before scrabbling around the pockets of his aviator jacket for some change.

With a little pinch of luck, thank Hades, he managed to uncover a sorry looking hundred dollar note in Chinese currency.

He couldn't help but feel triumphant. It paid to plan in advance. Nico shuddered inwardly in advance. Oh Gods, he was starting to think like Annabeth

A bit of food would definitely help, yes, he blamed his condition on miscalculation.

As he turned down the side street, he felt out of place. Everything was in bright vibrant red. He was just a patch of grey in the sunshine. The damp spot.

He had to China enough times to know that this was the 'great Chinese New Year' everyone got crazy about.

He couldn't see why, although the food smelled great. Burnt ovens, yum.

The sky was already pitch dark and it was nearing midnight. Nico half expected to see some wolves baying in the dark, anything to get rid of the mortals.

Nope? There was still a crowd of people at the events square and everyone seemed more ecstatic than ever.

Nico was still hungry and he hurried to the nearest stall with an English sign he could see. The word 'firecrackers' in golden lettering set his stomach off even more.

Must be some sort of Chinese snack he thought. He picked up the nearest set of presumed firecrackers, the ones with golden trimmings.

He shook it experimentally and breathed out in satisfaction when he heard rattling inside.

It was an odd way to package food though, not that he was complaining.

He handed over the hundred dollar note and stall holder pocketed it whole. Inflation...

"你要不要现在用呢?" The stall holder asked.

Nico couldn't speak or understand Chinese, but he thought it meant of he wanted to open the contents so he nodded his head.

The stallholder handed a lighter to him and made a pressing gesture with his hands. Nico did as he was told and burned the bottom of the long firecracker.

He watched as the fire burned away the frayed end of the string and it neared closer and closer to the main body of the firecracker.

He heard an explosion next, splitting his ears and shredding his thoughts to bits. He stared in horror at the burnt covering of the red package, somehow he could just comprehend what had happened.

As he was dealing with the weird looks the mortals were giving him, he swore he could here someone laughing up there in the heavens.

He knew it.

Hephaestus.

You never mess with him. He flung the red object back to the stall, wincing a little at the humiliation.

So much for Chinese New Year after all.

"Americans..." He heard the stall-holder mutter as he shadow-travelled away. Mist or no Mist.

**Like it? Review please and I hope you can see The Chinese words.**


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